It is also 40 years since Indonesia invaded East Timor and began a series of massacres, beginning a 20 year reign of terror. It is a sad fact that the political party that Evans was a member of supported this horrible behaviour in the 1970s and later in the 1980s and 1990s - Australia, in the early years at least, fearing a communist insurgency. This period of history is a stain on Australia and the Australian Labour Party. When John Howard finally stood up to the Indonesians in the mid 1990s, did the situation in East Timor turn in their favour - opening up the road to East Timorese independence and the release from Indonesian oppression. The other sad fact is that Indonesian is now perpetrating the same terror in West Papua, Australia standing by the side, again, seemingly in tacit approval. Australia has always had a troubled, difficult and complex relationship with its most closest neighbour. However, Australia's complicity in Indonesian malfeasance should not be swept under the historical carpet.

The notion that Indonesians themselves do not pay attention to the massacre is a myth. Ahmad Tohari's Rongeng of the early 1980s and the 2011 movie of that title have been widely read, seen and discussed. Equally, Pramoedia's works and essays have paid considerable attention. It is politics that has been in denial.

A horrible atrocity, but as the last paragraph states it was not about ethnicity or religion, therefore it was not genocide. (Nor, for example, was the Cambodian massacre.) Mr. Evans is calling it "genocide" only for shock value.

The Indonesian genocide of half a century ago is today having environmental consequences of as yet unforeseeable consequences for all of humanity. The Western acceptance of the post-genocidal military dictatorship without punishing the criminal politicians and generals who were responsible created a political climate of fascism that laid the groundwork for the current criminal behavior of corporations: the attitude that those in power are “too big to prosecute” that permitted genocide against the poor by generals in 1965 is today permitting the intentional burning of Indonesia’s priceless forests by “too big to prosecute” corporations that are permanently destroying one of the planet’s best sources of oxygen for short-term palm oil profits, now—according to Greenpeace--putting more global-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the whole U.K. economy.
The complicity in both parts of this sorry story about abuse of power of the U.S. is an issue that needs to be faced, for it is not just Indonesians who are suffering now: the abuse of power resulting from military, political, and corporate elites being above the law in that far-away country is now harming the air and climate of the whole globe. Why the U.S. government continues to allow the importation of palm oil and its use in U.S. industry is a question that urgently needs to be addressed.
Beyond that immediate issue, we need to learn to comprehend the long-term consequences of violating our fundamental principles, be it in regards to Indonesia or at home. The rule of law is the best sword for defending our quality of life, and the lesson of Indonesia is that the long-term costs of excusing the powerful from being held responsible for their behavior are beyond calculation.

And how will all those specialists and historians write in 50 years from now about Israel's cruel occupation well supported by the 'West'? Especially Angela Merkel. Will they argue "wir haben es nicht gewustt"? ("We didn't know" as Germans used to say after WWII.)

It may be forgotten by some but the genocide was well known all over the planet. . It didn't prevent the 'West' from siding with Suharto. Many Western politicians are known to have met Suharto and shaked hands with him.

Indonesia’s genocide wouldn't be forgotten if we instated civilocity and watched the leader of our country for the entire time anybody ever leads our country. Knowing every single thing every single leader of every single country does and having it all online would be remarkable.

Brilliant suggestion, Mr. Wenger! Hmmm, perhaps someone could set up a website that would list the key actions of key members of the ruling elite...A lot of work. Perhaps a "Wikipedia" format with entries limited to 50 words plus citations. I propose something like the following organization: politicians, billionaires, judges, CEOs of major corporations plus a list of their actions.

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